ESTUARIES AND BAYS

ABOUT ESTUARIES AND BAYS

Speckled trout cruise just beneath the water’s surface. The
pink flash of a Roseate spoonbill can be seen overhead. Periwinkle snails climb
the smooth cordgrass, just beyond the reach of a hungry redfish.

Where land becomes sea, and freshwater meets salt, is one of
the most productive biological systems. On the southeast Texas coast, it
includes one of the most important recreational destinations – the Gulf of
Mexico.

As one moves toward the coast, marshes, bayous and rivers
give way to flats and open water. The mixing of these waters, salt and
fresh, is what sustains many varieties of finfish, oyster reefs, and other
shellfish, including shrimp and blue crabs.

Known as the “nurseries of the sea,” estuaries are the
ocean’s protected areas. Here, complex food chains include everything
from microscopic organisms to sportfish to shore birds to fur-bearing mammals
to humans.

1) As frozen water from the ice age began to melt, sea level
in the Gulf of Mexico rose over two hundred feet and flooded river valleys that
had cut into the shelf. Three of the flooded river valleys became great
estuaries of the upper Texas coast: the Sabine Lake system, the Galveston Bay
system and the Matagorda Bay system.

2) Sabine Lake receives its fresh water from the Sabine and
Neches rivers while Galveston Bay is fed by the Trinity and San Jacinto rivers.
Matagorda Bay receives inflow from both the Colorado and Lavaca rivers.

3) San Louis Pass has 20 percent of the tidal flow for all
of Galveston Bay moving through it.

4) An estuary, such as Galveston Bay, converts as much
carbon dioxide into plant material as does a tropical rainforest.

5) The bays of the Houston Wilderness area receive the
highest inflows of any estuaries of the Texas Coast.

6) Galveston Bay is the national leader in the production of
oysters while Port Arthur, Galveston and Palacios lead the Texas coast in
shrimp landings.

7) Together, the Sabine Lake, Galveston and Matagorda bays
provide over half of the blue crabs on the Texas coast.

8) Recreational fishing is a large industry in these
estuaries; in Galveston Bay fishermen have the highest catch per unit of effort
by sport fishermen.

9) Oysters are the best example of the adaptability of
estuaries; their reefs are the center of biological diversity in our bays.
Oyster reefs provide habitat for smaller fish, hunting grounds for predators
and, where the reef extends above the water line, a fishing station for coastal
birds.

10) Each season is a resource for new and exciting
encounters with coastal birds. During the winter months, sea ducks like
mergansers and buffleheads can be found around the bay systems along with wintering
white pelicans and native brown pelicans. In the spring there is nothing like
seeing the nesting sites of colorful costal birds like the roseate spoonbill.

Houston Wilderness

HOUSTON WILDERNESS is a broad-based alliance of business, environmental and government interests that acts in concert to Create opportunities to preserve 10 ecoregions by Convening, Problem-Solving & Educating.